Codes and Conventions of Tech Magazines

January 10, 2022

What can be found:

In tech magazines, the topic is as you would expect, anything related to technology. This can be anything from information about cryptocurrency, to information and reviews about new products from major tech companies like apple, all the way to information about spaceships and NASA. These are just a few topics that you can expect but there are countless more. Writers of technology magazines aim to inform their readers about relevant topics and share their experience so that the readers don't have to themselves. 

PCMag

PCMag primarily makes content about new technology reviews and major tech news. Because of this, PCMag is aimed at people who are interested in technology or even have a job associated with it. That being said, the target age for their audience is around 25 to 50 years old as these ages are the people who are most involved with technology.

As for the cover of PCMag's magazine, the design is typically very simplistic. 

The masthead is always a red rectangle in the top left that has white letters that simply says "PC MAGAZINE" with PC being larger than MAGAZINE. 

The main coverline in most of their magazines features a creative name that is tied to the topic of their topic, such as "Virtual Reality No Longer Sucks". The coverline also usually has a word or phrase that gathers the readers attention before they read anything else. In the same title that has been mentioned, "Virtual Reality" is in bright red and is very large in order for the reader to direct their attention to that first. Then, the reader begins to look at the smaller white letters underneath for an elaboration on what the magazine is about. As for other side coverlines that you may see in a generic magazine, PCMag often lacks these. In most of their magazines, there is only a main coverline without other coverlines, however in some cases, they may choose to add side coverlines, but this is not common.

Before the reader views the coverline, PCMag designers try to make it so that the reader's attention is drawn to the main image. In order to do this, they make the background of the subject blurred if it is a real image, or make the background consist of bland colors if it is an illustration. As seen in the image to the left, the background is blurred, in order for the main image to "pop out" of the cover and gain the viewers attention before they look at anything else. In the image to the right, which has an illustrated cover, the background has a bland grey color in order for the same effect to take place.

As for the main image itself, PCMag usually utilizes an image of a person interacting with technology that will be covered later in the magazine, a direct picture of the technology, or an illustration that is related to the technology. The only type of main image that PCMag does not implement in their magazines in pictures that have people has the main topic, such as a picture of a celebrity. 

Lastly, PCMag always includes the date the magazine was published in the bottom left of the cover.

Wired

The magazines by Wired contain information technology and its effect on all aspects of culture, from social and recreational to business and politics. Just like PCMag, Wired's target audience is people who have tech associated lives, with ages 25 to 50.

The overall cover layout of Wired's magazines are very complex and they tend to change very often between magazines. 

The masthead of their magazines is always in the same block-like shape that says WIRED. Between each letter the background alternates from transparent and a colored square and each letter alternates between colored and transparent. Additionally, between their magazines, Wired changes the color of their masthead very often.

As for the main cover line and side cover lines, the color, shape, and location of the letters varies from each magazine, and the designers tend to get very creative. But while they do change these a lot, all the cover lines always match colors with each other. For the actual words that are included in the main cover line, they tend to have a large and broad term such as "Bill Gates' Plan To Save The World", to make the reader feel curious, then a smaller phrase to elaborate near it such as "We Can Reach Zero Carbon, Here's How".

Wired tends to always have a single notable person as the main image of their magazines, as can be seen in the two images above. This person is someone of relevance in the magazine and is typically the main topic. Additionally, this image is always perfectly centered in the middle of the cover with a solid and bland color for the background. By mixing these two factors, the reader of these magazines very easily draws their attention to the main image.

Maximum PC

Unlike PCMag and Wired, Maximum PC only focuses on information about computer hardware. The information in their magazines helps people to save money by building one themselves, and the best approach to accomplishing that. Because of this, their target audience is anyone that is looking to build themselves a computer or simply even somebody who is interested in computers. That being said, the age of this audience can be anywhere from 12 years old to 60. This is because as time goes, more and more people are in need of computers in order to participate in today's society.

Maximum PC's cover layout is very simple and consistent throughout all of their magazines.

The masthead of these magazines always says "MAXIMUM PC" with no space between the words and a sans serif font. As for the colors, MAXIMUM varies in color and PC is white most of the time but occasionally changing, but the colors of the two words are never the same.

The main cover line is always in the same location, which is slightly underneath the masthead. It always is concise and informs the reader on the main part or feature of the computer that will be reviewed later in the magazine. Underneath the main cover line, there are always bullet points to elaborate on it and inform the viewer on exactly what they will be learning. The main cover line can consist of any colors and there are even examples of multiple colors being used. 

As for the side cover lines, there is usually one in the bottom left and three on the top of the cover. They are either covered black or white. The side cover lines on the top always feature an image on the top right of them that is relevant to the topic, however this is not the case for the cover line on the bottom, as it lacks this image. These cover lines also have page numbers to direct the readers straight to these topics if they are interested. The color of these page numbers always match with the masthead's colors.

The main image is always in the bottom left of the cover and is always a picture of a computer.

Maximum PC also tends to include a date of publishing and a link to their website directly underneath the masthead.

Conclusion:

For tech magazines, there is more than just one topic that can be covered, and different magazine companies cover the many different technology-related topics with some companies only covering one topic throughout their magazines and others covering many topics. The layout of their covers may also vary from company to company. It can change a lot like the cover of Wired's magazines or be as simple and consistent as Maximum PC's.

Sources:

Baker, Bethany. “Wired Magazine.” LIS Publications Wiki, 25 Apr. 2011, ischoolwikis.sjsu.edu/lispublications/wiki/civilian-publications/wired-magazine/.

Zhu, Jason. “Breaking down Wired Magazine.” Medium, Medium, 3 Nov. 2018, medium.com/@jasonlzhu/a-6ef71ab7ef04.

Donnell, Wendy Sheehan. “PCMAG Editorial Mission Statement.” PCMAG, PCMag, 2 Jan. 2022, www.pcmag.com/about/pcmagcom-mission-statement.